Point of view in fiction isn't set in stone. Writers can shift perspectives, use multiple narrators, or employ unconventional structures to tell their stories. These techniques add depth and complexity, giving readers a richer understanding of characters and events.

From the Rashomon effect to epistolary narratives, authors have many tools to play with perspective. These approaches can create suspense, highlight biases, and explore the nature of truth itself. They challenge readers to piece together the full picture from various angles.

Changing Viewpoints

Shifting Perspective and Alternating POV

• Shifting perspective involves changing the point of view character within a story, allowing the reader to experience events from different angles and gain insights into various characters' thoughts and motivations
• Alternating POV is a technique where the narrative switches back and forth between two or more characters' perspectives, often in alternating chapters or sections (The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin)
• This approach can create suspense, dramatic irony, and a more comprehensive understanding of the story's events and conflicts
• Shifting perspective and alternating POV can also highlight the differences in characters' perceptions, biases, and interpretations of shared experiences

Rashomon Effect

• The Rashomon effect refers to a narrative technique where the same event is described from the subjective perspectives of multiple characters, often leading to contradictory or conflicting accounts
• Named after Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon, this technique emphasizes the subjectivity of truth and the influence of personal biases on the recollection and interpretation of events
• The Rashomon effect can create ambiguity, encourage readers to question the reliability of narrators, and explore the complexities of human perception and memory (The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn)
• This technique can also be used to build mystery, as readers must piece together the truth from multiple, often contradictory accounts

Multi-Voice Narratives

Multiple Narrators and Polyphonic Narrative

• Multiple narrators involve the use of two or more narrators to tell a story, each with their own distinct voice, perspective, and role in the narrative
• This technique can provide a more comprehensive view of the story's events, characters, and themes by offering diverse perspectives and experiences (The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan)
• Polyphonic narrative, a term coined by Mikhail Bakhtin, refers to a type of multiple-narrator storytelling where each voice is equally important and independent, creating a dialogic interplay of perspectives
• In a polyphonic narrative, no single voice or perspective dominates the others, and the multiple narrators often represent different social, cultural, or ideological positions (As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz)
• Multiple narrators and polyphonic narratives can create a rich, multi-layered storytelling experience that reflects the complexity of human experience and the diversity of perspectives in society

Unconventional Narrative Structures

Epistolary Narrative

• An epistolary narrative is a story told through a series of documents, such as letters, emails, diary entries, or newspaper clippings
• This format allows for multiple perspectives, non-linear storytelling, and the gradual revelation of plot points through the characters' written correspondence (The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Dracula by Bram Stoker)
• Epistolary narratives can create a sense of intimacy and realism, as readers gain direct access to characters' thoughts, feelings, and experiences through their written words
• This structure can also be used to build suspense, as readers must piece together the story's events and conflicts through fragmented, subjective accounts

Frame Narrative

• A frame narrative is a storytelling technique where a primary narrative acts as a framework for one or more embedded narratives or stories-within-a-story
• The frame narrative often features a narrator or group of characters who share stories with each other, with each embedded narrative typically having its own plot, characters, and themes (The Arabian Nights, The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio)
• Frame narratives can create a sense of unity and coherence among otherwise disparate stories, as the primary narrative provides a context and purpose for the telling of the embedded tales
• This structure can also be used to explore themes of storytelling itself, the power of narrative to shape human experience, and the relationship between reality and fiction (The Princess Bride by William Goldman, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell)